I apologise for this post, but I feel I have to put it in somewhere and I guess today is just as good a day as any. If the rest of you will indulge me, this post is for the surprisingly numerous people who find fault with my spelling. Some people seem to feel that I am consistently making certain spelling errors, and that this is somehow unacceptable for someone that writes about language. Although I am sure that my spelling and grammar are not perfect, and of course even the most proficient writer makes the odd typo, I would like to point out that the words that I am most commonly brought to task about are in fact perfectly fine (usually).
The difference is that I am from England, and although it is true that our languages are the same, British English and American English do have different spellings for many words. In England now, more and more people are adopting the American spelling of words, and let me just say that I have no problem with that—language is a fluid thing and should be changing all the time. I, however, still follow the old school English spellings of most words, and because of this I find myself in the situation I am now.
Before everyone writes in and berates me for being so sensitive, I should say that I do not lie in bed at night worrying that some ignorant Joe thinks I can’t spell. I did, however, think that it may be an interesting lesson on the evolution of a language and how a few hundred years of separation has changed the written word. I also think that every native English speaker should be aware of it.
So here we go, a few of the most common words that are different in British and American English, and the most popular ones for people to point out as wrong.
The o vs ou favourite
Most people actually know this one already so I thought I would start with it
American British
Color Colour
favorite favourite
honor honour
The Z vs S words. A difference that is becoming less used in the UK as well now
American British
analyze analyse
organize organise
realize realise
criticize criticise
I think you get the idea
ER vs RE another one that confuses many in the UK as both are now often used
American British
theater theatre
meter metre
center centre
One very close to my heart – LOG vs LOGUE
American British
catalog catalogue
dialog dialogue
This one of course made for a big decision when I first started this site. I was unsure whether to go with the American friendly Lingualog, or my British version Lingualogue. I did, as you know, plump for the latter, but I also bough the name of Lingualog. If you type in Lingualog.com you still go to my site.
The ultra confusing L or LL
This one can be very confusing. The rules are slightly different for English and American spelling
American British
traveling travelling
modeling modelling
In AmE – When the stress is on the first syllable then a single letter is used. In BrE, we tend to use a double l when in the middle of the word and between two vowels whichever syllable is stressed.
American British
fulfill fulfil
skillful skilful
As with most words, the syllable that is being stressed gets a double letter. Alas in British English the Ls tend to confuse matters again and when we add a suffix to a word ending in L we only use the single L in both positions.
ENSE vs ENCE
defense defence
license licence
CK vs QUE
check cheque - as in the banking kind
Verb past tenses
learned learnt
dreamed dreamt
Some random ones
draft draught
tire tyre – as in the car rubber
encyclopedia encyclopaedia
jewelry jewellery
I think that is probably enough for now. There are of course many, many differences between the two versions of English, mainly thanks to the differences between the two dictionaries published by Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster.
I hope this goes some way to people cutting me a little more slack, although I should probably expect more comments about this than anything else. It isn’t always easy writing with the British spelling these days as many spellcheckers use American English and sometimes (annoyingly) try to change the words automatically.
Just for the record I am not saying either side is right and the other wrong. All I am saying is that these are differences in the common usage of the two languages across the pond and therefore both should be accepted and tolerated.
